Rosemary, Kessington Adebutu’s wife, is dead

 

BY FOLASHADE KEHINDE

ROSEMARY Adebutu, wife of Chairman of Premier Lotto, Chief Kessington Adebutu, popularly called Baba Ijebu, is dead.

Unconfirmed reports linked her death to COVID-19 complications.

She was said to have died on Saturday morning.

The deceased was the mother of Temitope Adebutu, ex-wife of Jonwo, one of the sons of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

She was said to have been rushed to St. Nicholas Hospital after she developed a mild ailment which later became severe.

She was reportedly confirmed: “Brought in Dead” at the hospital.

The family had yet to issue an official statement as of the time filing this report. The news was however broken by Street Journal.

-ThePoint

 

 

Tragedy as Orisabunmi’s younger sister dies 72 hours after her sister, 48 hours after elder brother

 

BY REBECCA AJANI

BARELY 72 hours after the death of star Yoruba actress, Folake Aremu, popularly known as Orisabunmi, her younger sister, Janet Ademola, has also passed on.

The news of the death of Janet came as a shock to many, as Orisabunmi’s immediate elder brother, Steve Onisola, also died on Thursday, a day after the death of his younger sister.

Onisola, who was the Technical Director of Kwara Falcons Basketball Club, died at the age of 71 after a brief illness. Orisabunmi died at the age of 61.

Janet, who just passed on, was the last child of the family.

The news of her death was broken on Saturday by her nephew, Gbenga Onisola.

Janet had mourned her late sister, Orisabunmi, after her passing, saying she was her best friend who stood in as a mother to them all.

The death, in quick succession, of these siblings remains a mystery, many sympathisers told ADC NEWS

 

 

House on The Rock pastor dies of COVID-19

 

BY FOLASHADE KEHINDE

A Pastor of House on the Rock church, Adeyinka Akinbami, has died from COVID-19 complications.

He was aged 61.

Head of the Church, Paul Adefarasin, confirmed the incident on Saturday, saying he had yet to come to terms with the passing of the pastor.

He said this should remind the community about the deadly nature of COVID-19 and its mutant virus strains.

“Yesterday, I received the rude and shocking news of someone deeply dear to me and all of the HOTR family. The passing of Pastor Yinka Akinbami has become most painful because if there truly were good men, he was certainly one. To my brother, sleep well till we meet to part no more,” he tweeted.

He added, “Family, kindly allow me to solicit your intercession for his dear wife of over 30 years; Pastor Tolu, his children, his children-in-law, and grandchildren. We can only at best imagine how much pain they are feeling. We share the pain of his loss but they will feel it a lot more.

“It’s important to remind the community about the deadly nature of the Covid-19 and its mutant virus strains. Please do your part by following all the recommended precautions. That way, you are able to protect yourself and others who become proximal to you. God bless and keep us all.”

 

 

Nigeria’s capital market loses N246bn in six hours of trading

 

THE bears dominated trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday with the market capitalisation losing N246bn in six hours of trading.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the market capitalisation, which opened at N21.224tn shed N246bn to close at N20.978tn.

Similarly, the NSE All-Share Index decreased by 470.64 points or 1.16 per cent to close at 40,120.22 from 40,590.85 posted on Thursday.

A breakdown of the price movement shows that Dangote Cement topped the losers’ chart with N19.90 to close at N225 per share.

Lafarge Africa trailed with a loss of 10k to close at N22.30, while Vitafoam lost 5k to close at N8.95 per share.

Redstar Express dipped by 3k to close at N3.40, while UPL was also down by 3k to close at N1.25 per share.

On the other hand, Seplat led the gainers’ table, increasing by N45.10 to close at N496.10 per share.

Total followed with a gain of N13 to close at N143, while Okomu Oil garnered N2.50 to close at N92.50 per share.

Ardova added N1.45 to close at N16.35, while BOC Gas improved by N1.15 to close at N12.65 per share.

Access Bank was the most active stock exchanging, 35.11 million shares valued at N315.78m.

Transcorp followed with an account of 25.06 million shares worth N24.09m, while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 24.89 million shares valued at N821.26m.

Zenith Bank exchanged 23.69 million shares N606.29 million, while Japaul Gold sold 22.39 million shares cost N21.73m

In all, investors bought 333.31 million shares valued at N3.65bn exchanged in 5,142 deals.

This was against a total 2.13 billion shares worth N7.51 billion traded in 4,558 deals on Thursday.

-ThePoint

 

 

Pope Francis to get COVID-19 vaccine next week, says it’s ethical obligation

 

IN a forthcoming television interview, Pope Francis says that he will soon receive a coronavirus vaccination, perhaps as early as next week, while calling the inoculation a duty for everyone.

“I believe that ethically everyone needs to receive the vaccine,” Francis said in an interview with Italy’s TG5 that will air Sunday.

Francis did not specify the exact timing of his inoculation, but the pontiff said the Vatican’s vaccine rollout will begin next week and that he had already booked an appointment.

Francis’s plan sends a significant pro-vaccine signal to the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics. But it also marks a crucial step in safeguarding an 84-year-old who is missing part of a lung, doesn’t like to wear a mask and relishes face-to-face interaction.

Vatican watchers had widely anticipated that Francis would be administered the jab, and he has spoken favorably for months about the international vaccine effort, calling it a light of hope “in this time of darkness.” Until now, though, the Vatican had remained vague on its vaccine plans for the pope. The Holy See only said that its campaign would first target the elderly, medical personnel, and those most in contact with the public

The Vatican’s health director said the city-state would be using the vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech.

In the upcoming interview, Francis suggested his own perspective on vaccines had been shaped by childhood memories of polio, when “so many kids ended up paralyzed because of this and there was a desperation to receive the vaccine.”

“I don’t know why some will say, ‘No, the vaccine is dangerous.’” Francis said. “But if doctors offer it to you as something that can work, that poses no special risk, why not take it? There is a suicidal denialism that I wouldn’t know how to explain, but today you need to take the vaccine.”

The journalist who conducted the Friday interview of the pope, Fabio Marchese Ragona, shared a passage of the transcript with The Washington Post.

Almost since the beginning of the pandemic, Francis has seemed to have the vaccine on his radar. In May, he said that the search for vaccines should be “transparent and selfless.” And he has said several times that leaders must ensure that vaccines are provided to the poor, the sick and the vulnerable.

Once fully vaccinated with the two doses, Francis — and the church — will still have to behave cautiously. Medical experts say even those vaccinated should wear a mask. But the pontiff can more easily resume some of the activities that have been on hold for nearly a year, like international travel. Francis is planning a trip in early March to Iraq, what will be his first venture outside of Italy since the start of the pandemic.

Francis, who complained of feeling “caged” during Italy’s initial spring lockdown, has made it clear that he does not want to be a Zoom-only pope. As that initial clampdown loosened, Francis tried to reclaim the parts of his papacy he seemed to miss the most, mixing to a greater degree with crowds and meeting with pilgrims. Even amid Europe’s second wave, Francis has continued to host groups and hold in-person meetings.

Francis’s resistance to mask-wearing has perplexed some inside the church, and by forgoing masks in meetings he is bucking the Vatican’s own safety protocols. Neither he nor the Vatican has offered an explanation for his decision to generally go mask-free.

The pope’s inoculation will hardly mark the first instance of church vaccine endorsement. Last month, the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog said it was “morally acceptable” for Catholics to receive the vaccines that have used cell lines derived from aborted fetuses. Before that guidance, several U.S. bishops had suggested such vaccines were immoral.

“From the ethical point of view,” the Vatican said, “the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one’s own health, but also on the duty to pursue the common good.”

– Washington Post

 

 

Trump: Democrats threaten to begin impeachment proceedings Monday

 

UNITED States Democrats on Saturday were getting ready for an unprecedented second impeachment of Donald Trump as the defiant president showed no signs of stepping down after the deadly violence at the Capitol.

Democrats said impeachment proceedings could begin as early as Monday, an extraordinary acceleration of a process that historically has taken weeks, but one that might not be completed before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office on January 20.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned that Democrats will launch the process unless Trump resigns or Vice President Mike Pence invokes the 25th Amendment, where the cabinet removes the president.

“He’s deranged, unhinged and dangerous. He must go,” Pelosi, referring to Trump, tweeted on Friday.

The move to impeach came amid continued fury over the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday by angry Trump supporters, which left five people dead, including a Capitol policeman.

– ‘Gravely endangered of US’ –

The impeachment text being prepared by Democrats laid blame squarely at the president’s feet.

“In all of this, President Trump gravely endangered the security of the United States and its institutions of government. He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and imperiled a coordinate branch of government.”

Trump, who had urged his supporters to come to Washington on Wednesday for a rally opposing his November election loss, has remained defiant, even after finally posting a video Thursday in which he belatedly promised an “orderly transition” to the Biden administration.

But the president also said that “it’s only the beginning of our fight.”

That sort of language prompted Twitter to suspend Trump permanently and fueled Democrats’ moves against him.

The Twitter ban drew an angry response from Trump, who in a statement late Friday accused the popular platform — where he had more than 88 million followers — of having “coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left.”

Twitter not only suspended the @realDonaldTrump account but took action against others, including @POTUS, when he briefly turned to them.

– Biden defers to Congress –

Several Democrats and at least one Republican lawmaker — Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — have urged Trump to resign and avoid the messiness of impeachment proceedings in his final full week in power, but he reportedly has remained defiant in talks with his aides.

Trump has said he never intended for his supporters to attack the Capitol building — where Congress had convened to certify Biden’s victory in the state-by-state Electoral College tally — but only meant to encourage peaceful protest.

But in the chaos that day, one Trump supporter was shot and killed, lawmakers, reporters and staff were forced to take shelter, a Capitol policeman was killed in the chaos and invaders looted and vandalized the historic building, some parading through its halls with Confederate flags.

Just as when Trump was impeached in a traumatic 2019 partisan vote — but not convicted — the process requires first majority backing in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, and then, for conviction, two-thirds approval in the Senate.

Reaching two-thirds could be difficult in the narrowly divided upper chamber, but a number of Republicans who long supported Trump have expressed their disgust with the events of Wednesday.

Trump supporters including Senator Lindsey Graham have urged Biden to intervene with top Democratic lawmakers to call off the impeachment effort.

“I’m calling on President-elect Biden to pick up the phone to call Nancy Pelosi and the Squad to end the second impeachment,” Graham said Friday on Fox News, referring to the House speaker and a group of four young progressive Democrats who are favorite targets of the political right.

But Biden — whose inauguration on January 20, traditionally a pomp-filled event attended by thousands, is being seriously scaled back — on Friday side-stepped a reporter’s question about impeachment.

“What the Congress decides to do is for them to do,” he said.

– AFP

 

 

Infrastructure deficit: Ogun sets up Tertiary Education Fund, sets aside N200m annually

 

BY ABISOYE JOHNSON

THE Ogun State Government has set up a Tertiary Education Trust Fund to address infrastructure deficits in state-owned tertiary institutions.

Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed this while commissioning a state-of-the-art 1,500-seater hall donated to the Ogun State College of Health Technology (OSCOTECH), Ilese-Ijebu.

The facility was donated by a legal luminary and prominent indigene of Ilese Ijebu, Otunba Kunle Kalejaye (SAN) in honour of his sister, Mrs. Adetumbi Adebanjo (Nee Kalejaye) to mark her 72nd birthday anniversary.

The governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to returning what he called the lost glory of education in Ogun State.

He spoke through his Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Abayomi Arigbabu.

The governor also ordered the payment of bursary awards to indigenes of Ogun State in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

He said, “For the first time in the history of the State, this administration has introduced what we call the Ogun State Tertiary Education Fund which is like a local TETFund for infrastructural development in the tertiary institutions in Ogun State.

“There are some of the tertiary institutions in the State that ordinarily get annual TETFund funding from the Federal government but for those that are not on that platform, Ogun State government has set aside N200million to be given to these institutions on an annual basis.

“The government has also introduced infrastructure intervention. It is a form of projects identified by the institutions on an annual basis which government of Ogun state will actually build.”

The governor commended Kalejaye for the donation of the hall and called on corporate bodies and other individuals to emulate his gesture.

In his address, Kalejaye said the hall was one of his numerous philanthropic projects which included scholarship funds, 98 functional boreholes, churches, mosques, schools and hospitals, among others.

“This project is dedicated to filial devotion and sacrifice. It stands as a monument to the honour of Adetumbi Adebanjo (nee Kalejaye) who gave up her comfort so that I could be educated.

“It is my hope that this project will be utilised in a way that will convey to others the willingness to do something similar.

“I belong to the school of thought which holds the creed that government cannot just do everything. However, the government too must do something,” he said.